Improvement in bag-sewing machines



' ZSheets-Sheetl. W. WEBSTER.

BAG-SEWING MA NE. No'.18Z,249. atented Sept.12,1876.

M Waniiz- ZQMMW 2SheesSheetZ. W. WEBSTER. BAG-SEWING MACHINE.No.18Z,Z49. Patented SepLlZ, 1876.

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' 1 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

WILLIAM WEBSTER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OFONE- THIRD HISRIGHT TO EDINGTON DETRICK, OFySAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BAG-SEWING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 182,249, datedSeptember 12, 1876; application filed January 27, 1876.

a .To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WnBs'rER, of San Francisco, in the State ofCalifornia} have invented an Improved Sewing-Machine; for Sewing Bags,860., of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to that class of sewing-machines used in themanufacture of grainbags, sacks, and other articles made from coarsematerial; and it consists in animproved construction and arrangement ofparts where by I produce a machiiie making an overhand stitch with asingle or double thread, and ca pable of sewing through many thicknessesof coarse material in a perfect manner, and hav-' :ing the capacity tomake a strong and tight seam with a coarse thread or twine.

It is the object of my invention to produce these results withouttearing the fiber of the material, or making holes in it during theprogress of the sewing, and to enable a curved as well as a straight andcontinuous seam to be sewed, as will be more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, herein referred to by letters and figures,Figure l is a 'front elevation with the table in section, in order thebetter to show the arrangement of the mechanism. Fig. '2 isan end viewof the same, taken fromthe left-hand side of Fig. 1. .Fig. 3is a View ofthe curved needle.

Fig. 4 is a top view of my machine, showing thefeed mechanism forspacing the stitches and for moving the disk or needle-guide laterallyover the thread-take-up cylinder.

and its cam, the latter being shown in section.

Fig. 9 is a view in section of the end of I the take-up cylinder,showing the tension-band and mechanism for regulating the same.

The principal elements of this machine are:

a circular disk with an inner groove or track for the needle, a curvedneedle formed on the .arc of a circle of thesame curve as the groove,

and with two shoulders and an eye at the head, an arrangement ofmechanism for giving a continuous rotary motion to the needle within thecircular groove of thedisk, an'd a conical revolving thread-take-up forthrowing off the proper amount for each stitch, and taking up the slackof the thread as the sewing progresses. These parts are arranged withproper driving and feeding mechanism to produce a working machine.

A is the bed or table of the machine; B, the circular grooved disk,having a sliding horizontal motion upon the shaft C, but not revolvingwith it; D, the revolving conicaltakeup fixed on the shaft C; and d dare the two arms or dogs that engage with the notches or shoulders oftheneedle E, and give to it ,a continuous rotary motion within the grooveI). These arms are operated from a face-cam that forms apart of theneedle-disk B within the conical take-up, whereby one arm at a time isdrawn from the shoulders of the needle to allow it to pass through thematerial and thrown out again in contact with the needleafter theshoulder has passed through and below the fabric, so that while theneedle isfree to carry its thread through the material it is always incontact with, and is driven'by, one of the arms or dogs, and fromtheform of the cam the arms are withdrawn from the needle only while thatshoulder engaged by the arm is passing through the-material. These armsor dogs at at work through slots in the conical take-up D, and they givea positive continuous rotary motion to the needle. The form of theneedle E andthe manner ,of holding it within the groove in the disk'B,and of driving it with a positive motion, renders it capable of sewingthrough many thicknesses of the coarsest and heaviest material'that isused in the manufacture of grain-bags,sacks, and other articles. v

The thread or twine e is secured to the end of the needle E,'which, asit revolves, carries thethread through the material so thatthe threadlies in a succession of loops around the conical drum D, and embracingsaid conical drum and that portion of the material be tween the edge andthe puncture made by the needle, and the progression of the materialproduced by the feed mechanism causes the coils of thread to movegradually upon the conical surface toward the smaller end of the drum sothat these loops may be pulled off and drawn up one at a time into thematerial and over its edges to produce the overhand stitch. But as oneof these loops is more than sufficient for one stitch, the remainder ispulled up and taken again upon the drum as it revolves, and beforeanother loop is cast off by thestrain or pull upon the thread by theneedle. Thus a loop is cast off and pulled up for each revolution of thedrum D and the needle in the disk B, and as one part of the thread issecured to the material that is being moved away by the feed while itsend is attached to the need-1e, there is produced a constant strain orpull upon the thread that serves to draw up the loops.

The action of the feed in moving the material causes the coils of threadupon the drum D to move toward the smaller end and away from theneedle-disk B, so that the thread would extend diagonally after a time,from the last coil to the eye of the needle, unless some means wereprovided whereby thethread and the needle could be kept nearly in thesame plane, and thus enter the cloth more easily and with noside pull orstrain upon the needle. For this purpose I cause the needle-carryingdisk B to have a longitudinal sliding movement toward the smaller end ofthe drum D to correspond with the motion of the coils of thread, andthus I keep the last coil or end of the thread and the needle always inabout the same straight line. In addition to this sliding movement ofthe disk B, I give a rotary motion to the conical drum D, to reduce thestrain upon the thread 5 for, if the take-up drum D were stationary, andthe needle, with its disk, had no sliding movement, but only a motion ofrotation, the thread that is carried around by the needle would not belaid in even coils one after the other, and the friction between thethread-coils and the surface of the conical drum D would soon become sogreat that neither the thread nor the needle could withstand the strainthus thrown upon them, and a perfect seam could not be made.

From this construction it will be seen that the circular motion of theneedle produces in connection with the progression. of the material, aconstant pull upon the thread, while the sliding movement of the disk Band the rotary motion .of the conical drum D, operate to reduce thefriction v upon the thread and cause its coils to be laid evenly uponthe drum andthe needle, and the last coil to be kept nearly in astraight line, as the coils move toward the smaller end of the drum.

. The sliding movement of the disk B is produced by the rack Gr securedto the disk, and

the pinion 9 upon the ratchet-wheel f, and the necessary rotation ofthis wheel is produced by a finger, h, on the feed-bar, as shown in Fig.4.

When the disk-B has reached the limit of its motion toward the end ofthe drum D, and the thread is all exhausted, the rack is. sprung awayfrom contact with its pinion g, and the disk is drawn back to its firstposition, and a fresh supply of thread provided for another start.

In a machine of twice the size shown in the drawings, the needle willmake seventy revolutions and produce as many stitches while the disk ismoving from one end to the other of the conical drum.

The take-up drum D is made conical in order to allow the thread to movedown gradually toward the elastic end, and to facilitate the dischargeof the loops or coils, and the head of the drum or cylinder is providedwith an elastic surface or band, i, to act as a tension upon the loop ofthread, that it may be drawn off by the pull or strain upon it by themovement of the material in feeding instead of dropping off loosely andfalling down in the way of the sewing mechanism. This elastic band 13has a plate, H, within the head of the take-up drum, adjustable on theshaft 0, by means of the set-screw j, as shown in Fig. 9, so that therim of the band i may be raised and spread out more or less to act uponthe loop of thread and retard its motion in dropping or being drawn offthe cone to a greater or less degree, and thus the tension of the threadat this point is increased or diminished.

The feed mechanism consists of the serrated bar I that reciprocates backand forth beneath the presser-foot. The movement is given to this bar bymeans of the eccentric J on the main shaft 0, through the medium of thelink K and lever L, as shown in Fig. 4. The revolution of the eccentricJ produces a rocking motion of the lever L, that is pivoted to thetable, and'this a recipro'cating movement to the bar I that is connectedwith the lever by means of the link K. One arm of the lever L The disk Bhas a presser-foot, O, anda movable plate, I, in the side of the flangeto permit the needle to be removed and replaced when necessary. -,Ithas, also, a notch, m, extending down to the groove or track of theneedle to facilitate the introduction of the thread into the eye of theneedle.

The needle-driving mechanism is shown in detail in Figs. 5,. 6, 7. I

The form of the cam M is such that thefirst dog d is withdrawn from theshoulder at the point of the needle as it reaches the cloth, and isthrown out again to engage with the shoulder after it has passed throughthe ma terial, and the second dog d is operated in the same manner as itpasses the cloth, one of the dogs being at all times in contact with theneedle and the motion produced by them being a positive one.

The face-cam M that drives the dogs is stationary, and forms a part ofthe needle-guiding disk B. The form of its groove is shown in Figs. 5and 6. The dogs are held in place against this cam and rotated by theface-plate P, each dog being. provided with a pin and roller, and movingup and down in the groove in the face-plate that is fixed upon thedriving-shaft. This arrangement of mechanism is shown in Fig. 7. t

The form of the needle and the manner of driving it make a strong sewingmechanism capable of penetrating the strongest material and of unitingmany thicknesses of ittogether. This machine has also the capacity tosew a continuous seam around corners, and make curved as well asstraight lines of sewing, and from the principle of its construction itwill be seen that it can be run at a rapid rate of speed and still makea perfect seam.

The conical take-up holds the thread as it is laid by the needle in acompact manner out of the way of the sewing mechanism, and prevents anyentanglement or snarling of the thread. In the machine of the size shownin the drawings, the take-up will carry thread enough to sew seventystitches; but the size of the machine can be increased to sew twelve ormore sacks before it would be necessary to move back the disk B on theshaft toward the head of the take'up cylinder. The curved needle E isshown with the shoulders or notches cl d for driving it made on theunder surface; but I do not confine myself to the precise form orposition of them, as they may be placed at the side of the shank andmade of a wedge shape.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A sewing machine or mechanism, composed of the following elements,viz: A circular disk orneedle-guide, B, having a groove or track fortheneedle; acurved needlc,E, formed when these parts are arranged andcombined with proper feeding, driving, and thread-controlling mechanism,as described and set forth.

2. In a sewing machine or mechanism, the circular needle holding andguiding disk B, with a groove or track for the needle, the axis of whichcoincides with the center of the disk,

combined with mechanism to move it ina horizontal direction upon itsaxis'or shaft over and upon the conical take-up D, but having no rotarymotion, constructed as and for the purpose described and set forth.

3. In a sewing machine or mechanism, the combination with the needle E,herein described, of the revolving cam M, cam-plate P, and dogs d d, orequivalent mechanism for driving and propelling the needle continuouslyforward in a rotary path, in the manner and for the purpose describedand shown.

4. In a sewing machine or mechanism, the combination, with the needle E,and its propelling mechanism herein described, of a revolving conicalthread cast-01f and take-up D, arranged within the circle traversed bythe needle, and having a continuous rotary motion in the same directionas the motion of the needle, in the manner and for the purposedescribed.

5. In a sewing machine or mechanism, the elastic tension-band t, and itsadjustingplate H, or equivalent, arranged and combined with the conicalrevolving take-up D, to control the loops of thread in the mannerdescribed and shown. i

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

WILLIAM WEBSTER. [L.

Witnesses:

G. W. M. SMITH, PHILIP MAHLER.

